Discover duende with Paco Lara

ACCLAIMED flamenco virtuoso Paco Lara returns to the region with his guitar and dance concert, Duende, at Brunswick Heads on March 22.

Duende is a Spanish word often associated with the artform of flamenco, for which there is no English translation. It relates to a heightened state of emotion and expression, a transcendence of form and spirit that transports the purveyor or the viewer to a higher plane.

Lara is one of Australia’s most renowned flamenco guitarists and brings the duende, the soul and spirit, of the Spanish artform with his 2023 collection of original compositions.

The past year has been busy for Lara, with concerts at the inaugural Spanish Festival in Robertson, Bird’s Basement in Melbourne and the National Multicultural Festival. With Concerts Australia, he also performed in Melbourne, Perth, Hobart, Newcastle, the Blue Mountains and Canberra.

Lara told this masthead he was always happy to be back on the road.

“I am inspired by stepping out of the darkness of my studio into the light of the stage,” he said.

“The stage is where the solitary work that we as musicians do, at the same time as being composers and performers, makes sense.

“Meeting my audience again is always exciting.”

Not an artist to rest on his laurels, Lara is in preparations for an international tour and is in the early stages of writing a new show. He is confident in his skill but modest in what he has yet to achieve musically.

“I feel at my best in one way – there is a moment of artistic maturity resulting from more than 40 years with my guitar,” he said.

“But at the same time, the best is yet to come, and I must continue on this path of music, where you learn something new every day.”

Lara migrated to Australia from Jerez, the heartland of flamenco, in 2017. While steeped in tradition, his style reflects the fusion of contemporary influences and the artist at the height of emotional expression.

Flamenco was recognised internationally by UNESCO in 2010 as an Intangible Heritage for Humanity. Australia has a healthy appreciation, and Lara asserts that the love is global.

“Flamenco is a music with roots that emerges from the people and is later professionalised and perfected by the artists,” he said.

“Popular music connects with the feelings of the audience even if they are not experts, and that emotion has made our Andalusian music universal.”

Guest flamenco dancer Deya Miranda Giner and musician Byron Mark on piano and percussion will join Lara at the Brunswick Picture House.

To transport yourself to southern Spain, visit brunswickpicturehouse.com/duende-flamenco-show-22-mar